WASHINGTON — The Mountain Valley Pipeline, a long-delayed 300-mile project supported by Western Pennsylvania Republicans, can resume construction after a favorable ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday.
The high court granted an emergency request by Pennsylvania-based developer Equitrans Midstream to continue construction, which initially resumed this summer after a deal between President Joe Biden, U.S. Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., and lawmakers in both parties to fast-track the pipeline as part of the bill suspending the debt ceiling to avoid a federal government default.
But work again was halted two weeks ago by a Virginia federal appeals court, which was considering whether Congress overstepped its authority by including the pipeline approval in the debt ceiling bill. Two Pennsylvania Republicans, U.S. Reps. Guy Reschenthaler and John Joyce, joined West Virginia lawmakers in writing the provision, which also shifted jurisdiction over the pipeline to a federal court in Washington.
The pipeline could generate $150 million a year in royalty payments and $2 billion a year in gas sales in Pennsylvania, according to FTI Consulting. Proponents say expanding natural gas infrastructure will lower costs and improve U.S. energy security.
Mr. Reschenthaler, R-Peters, welcomed the high court’s decision in a tweet, calling it “a big win for America's energy independence.”
Virginia Democrats and environmentalists — including the Wilderness Society, whose lawsuit prompted the Virginia court’s order — say the debt ceiling deal marked an overreach by Congress and could lead to future fossil fuel projects avoiding oversight.
But the Supreme Court reversed the lower court’s decision in a brief order Thursday, granting Equitrans’ emergency request, which was backed by the Biden administration and House members including Mr. Reschenthaler and U.S. Rep. Mike Kelly, R-Butler.
While the Supreme Court allowed construction to move forward, it did not address whether Congress had the power to approve the pipeline as part of the debt ceiling bill. The Fourth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals will continue to hear arguments on that issue.
Mr. Manchin wrote in his Supreme Court brief that, “faced with what seems to be unending litigation, and with no end in sight, Congress took matters into its own hands,” and that the completing the pipeline was “in the national interest.”
“The Supreme Court has spoken and this decision to let construction of the Mountain Valley Pipeline move forward again is the correct one,” Mr. Manchin said Thursday in a statement. “I am relieved that the highest court in the land has upheld the law Congress passed and the president signed.”
Benjamin Kail: bkail@post-gazette.com; @BenKail
First Published: July 27, 2023, 9:35 p.m.
Updated: July 28, 2023, 5:13 p.m.